EP3296117B1 - Image formation method - Google Patents
Image formation method Download PDFInfo
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- EP3296117B1 EP3296117B1 EP16796222.4A EP16796222A EP3296117B1 EP 3296117 B1 EP3296117 B1 EP 3296117B1 EP 16796222 A EP16796222 A EP 16796222A EP 3296117 B1 EP3296117 B1 EP 3296117B1
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- ink
- colors
- magenta ink
- halftone
- inks
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- 239000000976 ink Substances 0.000 claims description 234
- 239000003086 colorant Substances 0.000 claims description 82
- 239000011159 matrix material Substances 0.000 claims description 61
- 239000007788 liquid Substances 0.000 claims description 39
- 238000012545 processing Methods 0.000 claims description 19
- 238000010586 diagram Methods 0.000 description 25
- 238000007639 printing Methods 0.000 description 18
- 238000007641 inkjet printing Methods 0.000 description 10
- 238000004040 coloring Methods 0.000 description 8
- 239000000463 material Substances 0.000 description 8
- 238000003672 processing method Methods 0.000 description 8
- 238000006243 chemical reaction Methods 0.000 description 6
- 230000007274 generation of a signal involved in cell-cell signaling Effects 0.000 description 5
- 230000000007 visual effect Effects 0.000 description 5
- 238000005516 engineering process Methods 0.000 description 4
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- 238000012986 modification Methods 0.000 description 1
- 230000004048 modification Effects 0.000 description 1
- 239000000049 pigment Substances 0.000 description 1
- 239000004576 sand Substances 0.000 description 1
- 238000012216 screening Methods 0.000 description 1
Images
Classifications
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- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
- B41J—TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
- B41J2/00—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed
- B41J2/005—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed characterised by bringing liquid or particles selectively into contact with a printing material
- B41J2/01—Ink jet
- B41J2/205—Ink jet for printing a discrete number of tones
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
- B41J—TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
- B41J2/00—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed
- B41J2/005—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed characterised by bringing liquid or particles selectively into contact with a printing material
- B41J2/01—Ink jet
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
- B41J—TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
- B41J2/00—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed
- B41J2/005—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed characterised by bringing liquid or particles selectively into contact with a printing material
- B41J2/01—Ink jet
- B41J2/21—Ink jet for multi-colour printing
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
- B41J—TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
- B41J2/00—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed
- B41J2/005—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed characterised by bringing liquid or particles selectively into contact with a printing material
- B41J2/01—Ink jet
- B41J2/21—Ink jet for multi-colour printing
- B41J2/2132—Print quality control characterised by dot disposition, e.g. for reducing white stripes or banding
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- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
- B41J—TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
- B41J2/00—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed
- B41J2/525—Arrangement for multi-colour printing, not covered by group B41J2/21, e.g. applicable to two or more kinds of printing or marking process
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
- B41M—PRINTING, DUPLICATING, MARKING, OR COPYING PROCESSES; COLOUR PRINTING
- B41M5/00—Duplicating or marking methods; Sheet materials for use therein
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- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
- B41M—PRINTING, DUPLICATING, MARKING, OR COPYING PROCESSES; COLOUR PRINTING
- B41M5/00—Duplicating or marking methods; Sheet materials for use therein
- B41M5/0023—Digital printing methods characterised by the inks used
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- G—PHYSICS
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- G06K—GRAPHICAL DATA READING; PRESENTATION OF DATA; RECORD CARRIERS; HANDLING RECORD CARRIERS
- G06K15/00—Arrangements for producing a permanent visual presentation of the output data, e.g. computer output printers
- G06K15/02—Arrangements for producing a permanent visual presentation of the output data, e.g. computer output printers using printers
- G06K15/10—Arrangements for producing a permanent visual presentation of the output data, e.g. computer output printers using printers by matrix printers
- G06K15/102—Arrangements for producing a permanent visual presentation of the output data, e.g. computer output printers using printers by matrix printers using ink jet print heads
- G06K15/105—Multipass or interlaced printing
- G06K15/107—Mask selection
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- G—PHYSICS
- G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
- G06K—GRAPHICAL DATA READING; PRESENTATION OF DATA; RECORD CARRIERS; HANDLING RECORD CARRIERS
- G06K15/00—Arrangements for producing a permanent visual presentation of the output data, e.g. computer output printers
- G06K15/02—Arrangements for producing a permanent visual presentation of the output data, e.g. computer output printers using printers
- G06K15/18—Conditioning data for presenting it to the physical printing elements
- G06K15/1835—Transforming generic data
- G06K15/1844—Anti-aliasing raster data
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- G—PHYSICS
- G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
- G06K—GRAPHICAL DATA READING; PRESENTATION OF DATA; RECORD CARRIERS; HANDLING RECORD CARRIERS
- G06K15/00—Arrangements for producing a permanent visual presentation of the output data, e.g. computer output printers
- G06K15/02—Arrangements for producing a permanent visual presentation of the output data, e.g. computer output printers using printers
- G06K15/18—Conditioning data for presenting it to the physical printing elements
- G06K15/1867—Post-processing of the composed and rasterized print image
- G06K15/1872—Image enhancement
- G06K15/1876—Decreasing spatial resolution; Dithering
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- H—ELECTRICITY
- H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
- H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
- H04N1/00—Scanning, transmission or reproduction of documents or the like, e.g. facsimile transmission; Details thereof
- H04N1/46—Colour picture communication systems
- H04N1/52—Circuits or arrangements for halftone screening
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
- B41J—TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
- B41J13/00—Devices or arrangements of selective printing mechanisms, e.g. ink-jet printers or thermal printers, specially adapted for supporting or handling copy material in short lengths, e.g. sheets
- B41J13/0063—Handling thick cut sheets, e.g. greeting cards or postcards, larger than credit cards, e.g. using means for enabling or facilitating the conveyance of thick sheets
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- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
- B41M—PRINTING, DUPLICATING, MARKING, OR COPYING PROCESSES; COLOUR PRINTING
- B41M3/00—Printing processes to produce particular kinds of printed work, e.g. patterns
- B41M3/008—Sequential or multiple printing, e.g. on previously printed background; Mirror printing; Recto-verso printing; using a combination of different printing techniques; Printing of patterns visible in reflection and by transparency; by superposing printed artifacts
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- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
- B41M—PRINTING, DUPLICATING, MARKING, OR COPYING PROCESSES; COLOUR PRINTING
- B41M5/00—Duplicating or marking methods; Sheet materials for use therein
- B41M5/0041—Digital printing on surfaces other than ordinary paper
- B41M5/0047—Digital printing on surfaces other than ordinary paper by ink-jet printing
Definitions
- the present invention relates to an image forming method, and particularly, to an image forming method of forming a halftone image on a corrugated fibreboard recording medium using an inkjet recording device.
- JP2012-61781A discloses changing a timing at which each ink is ejected to suppress blurring and color mixing in an image in a case where different ink dots are formed to overlap on a medium using an inkjet recording device including an ink nozzle array of each ink that ejects the ink to form ink dots on the medium and a control unit that controls an ink ejection operation.
- JP2013-66082A discloses performing halftone processing using a dither method on each piece of color plate data obtained by converting each piece of color plate data of CMYK to have 1/n (n is an integer equal to or greater than 2) of output resolution, replacing a dot pattern of each piece of color plate data with a dot pattern corresponding to a coloring material usage reduction rate, making the replaced dot patterns different between the color plates, and performing changing so that dots of the respective colors do not overlap to suppress blurring.
- US 2010/045723 A1 teaches that print permitting ratios of the masks in the first to fourth passes of a C ink are respectively 6.2%, 37.5%, 37.5%, and 18.8%.
- the print permitting ratios of the masks in the first to fourth passes of an M ink are respectively 12.5%, 37.5%, 37.5%, and 12.5%.
- the respective masks are set such that a larger amount of the C ink is applied in a later pass as compared with the M ink.
- JP 2003-118150 A teaches an ink-jet recording head and an ink-jet recorder carrying it wherein variation in color tone between an outward passage and an inward passage is not recognized even when bi-directional printing is executed and a high speed and high quality printing can be executed, and a complex control means is not necessary.
- a color ink-jet recording head wherein nozzle groups each consisting of a plurality of nozzles arranged in a sub-scanning direction are arranged in a main scanning direction and one pixel is recorded by ink drops ejected on a recording medium from one or more nozzles.
- the nozzles are arranged such that only a part of ink dots formed by the ink drops forming one pixel ejected from different nozzles are overlapped with each other. Namely, when the nozzle position determined such that arrival central positions of ink dots forming one pixel are approximately the same is made to be a reference position of each nozzle, at least one nozzle is positioned to be shifted from the reference position.
- EP 1263209 A2 discloses A halftone screening method which creates screens of a plurality of colors, where each of the screens is divided into a plurality of cells, and intentionally changes a dot position of certain colors within cells of the screens of the certain colors relative to a dot position of a reference color within a cell of the screen of the reference color, so as to suppress a color tone change caused by positional errors of the screens.
- An object of the present invention is to solve the above problems of the related art and provide an efficient image forming method that does not generate a mottle in an image printed in multicolor on a corrugated fibreboard recording medium using an inkjet recording device.
- an image forming method of the present invention is an image forming method of forming a halftone image on a corrugated fibreboard recording medium using an inkjet recording device that uses magenta ink and other inks with two or more colors other than the magenta ink, and is defined in the appended claims.
- the image forming method comprises determining a droplet ejection position of the magenta ink and then determining droplet ejection positions of the other inks with two or more colors to be positions different from the droplet ejection position of the magenta ink, wherein in order to determine the droplet ejection position of the magenta ink and the droplet ejection positions of the other inks with two or more colors, a halftone pattern of the magenta ink having a predetermined pitch using a dither matrix is determined, and then, halftone patterns of other inks with the two or more colors having the predetermined pitch are determined to fill a predetermined area of the dither matrix to which the halftone pattern of the magenta ink is not assigned, wherein "predetermined pitch” refers to a distance between centers of adjacent liquid droplets of each color, wherein the droplet ejection positions of the other inks with two or more colors are determined so that print positions of a liquid droplet of the magenta ink and liquid droplets of
- the droplet ejection positions of the other inks with two or more colors are determined so that print positions of a liquid droplet of the magenta ink and liquid droplets of the other inks with two or more colors that are ejected at a predetermined pitch onto the corrugated fibreboard recording medium are different.
- the droplet ejection positions of the other inks with two or more colors are determined so that print positions of the liquid droplets of inks having different coloring materials to be ejected at a predetermined pitch on the corrugated fibreboard recording medium are different.
- determined is a halftone pattern of the magenta ink having the predetermined pitch using a dither matrix
- the predetermined area of the dither matrix to which the halftone pattern of the magenta ink is not assigned is an area included in an area in which the halftone pattern of the magenta ink and the halftone pattern of other inks with two or more colors overlap, and is an area at a position on the dither matrix in a case where the droplet ejection position at which the dot of magenta ink is not printed on the halftone pattern of the magenta ink is projected onto the dither matrix of other inks with two or more colors.
- Fig. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of an image forming method according to a first embodiment not falling under the scope of the present invention.
- a color image is acquired as RGB data, and a halftone image is recorded on a corrugated fibreboard recording medium using a printing device (inkjet recording device) according to an inkjet recording scheme of ejecting coloring materials (ink) of M (magenta), C (cyan), Y (yellow) and K (black) at a predetermined pitch.
- a printing device inkjet recording device
- inkjet recording scheme of ejecting coloring materials (ink) of M (magenta), C (cyan), Y (yellow) and K (black) at a predetermined pitch.
- step S10 image data (RGB data) to be output by the inkjet recording device is acquired.
- step S12 the acquired RGB data is converted into image data of each of three colors in MCYK, such as MCY, MCK, or MYK, or four colors of MCYK.
- step S16 halftone processing is performed on the image data after a color conversion process to determine a halftone pattern (mask pattern) of each color.
- the halftone pattern to be determined of each color is determined so that a droplet ejection position of M ink and droplet ejection positions of inks excluding the M ink, that is, K ink, Y ink, and C ink are different from each other in a halftone image formed by overlap, that is, the image subjected to the halftone process.
- Figs. 2A and 2B illustrate liquid droplets (dots) in a case where predetermined ink is ejected while moving the recording medium in a sub-scanning direction, and a square grid (4 ⁇ 4) in Figs. 2A and 2B indicates pixels.
- the "predetermined pitch” refers to a distance between centers of adjacent liquid droplets.
- a pitch in a sub-scanning direction is referred to as a “vertical direction pitch”
- a pitch in a main scanning direction is referred to as a “horizontal direction pitch”.
- the "predetermined pitch” refers to a distance between adjacent liquid droplets in the main scanning direction or the sub scanning direction.
- the distance between adjacent liquid droplets in the sub scanning direction is referred to as a "vertical direction pitch”
- the distance between adjacent dots in the main scanning direction is referred to as a "horizontal direction pitch”.
- Fig. 3(A) illustrates a state in which the droplet ejection positions are different
- Fig. 3(B) illustrates a state in which the droplet ejection positions are the same.
- the "droplet ejection position" refers to a position designated so that an ink droplet is printed at the position on an image subjected to halftone processing (halftone dot processing), that is, on binarized (or ternarized or quaternarized) image data.
- Figs. 3(A) and 3(B) illustrate a state in which cyan and magenta have been ejected at any one of pixels (x0, y1), (x1, y1), (X0, y0), and (x1, y0) that are determined at a predetermined pixel pitch (a "pitch” in Figs. 3(A) and 3(B) ) on the image subjected to the halftone processing.
- the state in which "droplet ejection positions are different” refers to a state in which the droplet ejection positions of ink are formed at different pixel positions on the image subjected to the halftone process, that is, a state in which cyan is ejected onto (x0, y1) and (x1, y0) and the magenta is ejected onto (X0, y0) and (x1, y1), as illustrated in Fig. 3(A) .
- the state “droplet ejection positions are the same” refers to a state in which the ink droplet ejection positions are formed at the same pixel positions on the image subjected to the halftone processing, that is, a state, droplets of cyan and magenta are not ejected onto (x0, y0) and (x1, y 1), droplets of the cyan and the magenta are ejected onto (x0, y1) and (x1, y0), the colors are mixed, and blue is generated, as illustrated in Fig. 3(B) .
- cyan and magenta are used as the ink droplets, but the ink droplets are not limited to these inks as long as the inks are different coloring materials.
- Fig. 4(A) illustrates a state in which the print positions are different
- Fig. 4(B) illustrates a state in which the print positions are the same.
- the "print position" refers to a position at which there is an ink liquid droplet on the recording medium.
- print positions are different refers to a state in which a centroid of each liquid droplet formed on the recording medium is present in a different pixel area that is determined by a predetermined pixel pitch and refers to a state in which centroids G of the cyan liquid droplet and the magenta liquid droplet are present in different pixel areas (pixel areas determined by the pitch in the vertical direction and the pitch in the horizontal direction in Fig. 4(A) ) as illustrated in Fig. 4(A) .
- the expression “print positions are the same” refers to a state in which a centroid of each liquid droplet formed on the recording medium is present in the same pixel area that is determined by a predetermined pixel pitch and refers to a state in which centroids G of the cyan liquid droplet and the magenta liquid droplet are present in the same pixel areas (pixel areas determined by the pitch in the vertical direction and the pitch in the horizontal direction in Fig. 4(B) ) as illustrated in Fig. 4(B) .
- cyan and magenta are used as the ink droplets, but the ink droplets are not limited to such inks as long as ink droplets are different coloring materials.
- a total ink amount may be small in a case where C ink and the Y ink are simultaneously printed, (2) as illustrated in the area (A) in Fig. 5 , the total ink amount may be large in a case where the M ink and the Y ink are simultaneously printed, (3) as illustrated in the area (B) in Fig. 5 , the total ink amount may be large in a case where the M ink and the C ink are simultaneously printed, and (4) as illustrated in the area (C) in Fig.
- the total ink amount may be large in a case where the M ink, the Y ink, and the K ink are simultaneously printed, and that a printing ratio of the Y ink and the K ink is less than 100% in total, and the ink usage amount of the M ink is relatively larger than the ink usage amounts of the Y ink and the K ink.
- the present inventors have repeated intensive research and found from the findings (2) above that it is possible to realize an image in which generation of a mottle has been suppressed and deterioration of graininess has been suppressed as much as possible by forming the halftone image so that the print positions of liquid droplets of the M ink and liquid droplets of other inks with two or more colors are different to make it easy to absorb inks into the corrugated fibreboard recording medium. That is, the present inventors have found that it is preferable to form the halftone so that the droplet ejection positions of the M ink and the Y ink are different as illustrated in Fig. 6(A) , droplet ejection positions of the M ink and the C ink are different as illustrated in Fig.
- step S18 a halftone image is formed on the recording medium by the inkjet recording device on the basis of the image signal of the halftone pattern of each color determined through the halftone process, and the image formation method according to this embodiment ends.
- step S16 the halftone process in step S16 described above will be described in detail with reference to Figs. 7 to 12 .
- Fig. 7 illustrates an example of a print pattern that is printed on a recording medium by the inkjet recording device in this embodiment.
- dots indicated by a mesh indicate magenta (M)
- dots indicated by oblique lines indicate yellow (Y)
- dots indicated by sand indicate black (K).
- the magenta dots and dots of other colors are formed so that print positions are different. That is, the magenta dots and the dots of the other color (the black dots and the yellow dots) have different droplet ejection positions on a halftone image. Further, the black dots and the yellow dots are formed so that the print positions are the same.
- Fig. 8 illustrates a flowchart of a halftone processing method according to this embodiment
- Figs. 9A to 9C are diagrams illustrating an order of determining a halftone pattern of each color
- Figs. 10 to 12 are diagrams illustrating a method of determining a halftone pattern of each color.
- one dither matrix S suitable for image data (MYK image data) as illustrated in Fig. 10A is first determined in step S20.
- This dither matrix S has a threshold value pattern of 4 rows ⁇ 4 columns, in which integers of 1 to 16 are randomly arranged one by one as threshold values, and portions (threshold value portions) to which the threshold values of the dither matrix S are written correspond to droplet ejection positions of inks that are jetted from an inkjet nozzle. Further, the liquid droplet (dot) that is jetted from the inkjet nozzle, ejected onto the recording medium, and formed is assumed to correspond to a size satisfying one threshold value portion thereof.
- step S22 the halftone pattern of the magenta (M) as illustrated in Fig. 9A is determined.
- the threshold value of the dither matrix S is compared with the signal value (10) of the image data of the magenta (M) to determine the halftone pattern of the magenta (M).
- the threshold value portions of 10 or less of the dither matrix S are printed.
- step S24 the halftone patterns of the colors other than the magenta as illustrated in Figs. 9B and 9C , that is, the black and the yellow are determined.
- a signal value (14) obtained by adding a signal value (10) of image data of the magenta (M) to a signal value (4) of the black (K) is generated as a signal value of X and, as illustrated in Fig. 10C , the signal value (14) of X is compared with the threshold value of the dither matrix S to determine a halftone pattern corresponding to the signal value of X, that is, a halftone pattern in which the magenta (M) and the black (K) are superimposed on each other.
- threshold value portions with 14 or less of the dither matrix S are printed.
- the halftone pattern corresponding to the signal value of X is compared with the halftone pattern of the magenta (M) to determine the halftone pattern of the black (K).
- a signal value of X at a position at the magenta (M) is printed is erased in the halftone pattern corresponding to the signal value of X.
- a method of determining the halftone pattern of the yellow (Y) will be described with reference to Figs. 11A to 11C .
- the same method as the method of determining the halftone pattern of the black (K) is used.
- a signal value (16) obtained by adding a signal value (10) of the image data of the magenta (M) to a signal value (6) of the image data of the yellow (Y) is generated as a signal value of X and, as illustrated in Fig. 11B , this signal value (16) of X is compared with the threshold value of the dither matrix S to determine a halftone pattern corresponding to the signal value of X, that is, a halftone pattern in which the magenta (M) and the yellow (Y) overlap.
- a threshold value portion with 16 or less of the dither matrix S is printed. Then, as illustrated in Fig.
- the halftone pattern corresponding to the signal value of X is compared with the halftone pattern of the magenta (M) to determine the halftone pattern of the yellow (Y).
- the signal value of X at a position at which the magenta (M) is printed has been erased in the halftone pattern corresponding to the signal value of X.
- the image data for determining the halftone patterns of the magenta, the black, and the yellow as illustrated in Figs. 9A to 9C is formed. That is, the halftone image is formed in which the droplet ejection position of the magenta and the droplet ejection positions of the other color dots (black dots and yellow dots) are different.
- a printing pattern as illustrated in Fig. 7 is formed. That is, an image is formed in which the print positions of the magenta dots and the other color dots (black dots and yellow dots) are different, and the print positions of the black dots and the yellow dots are the same.
- the case where the value obtained by adding the signal value (10) of the image data of the magenta (M) to the signal value (4) of the image data of the black (K) and the signal value of X calculated by adding the signal value (10) of the image data of the magenta (M) to the signal value (6) of the image data of the yellow (Y) are signal values equal to or smaller than a maximum threshold value (16) of the dither matrix S as illustrated in Figs. 10B and 11A has been illustrated, but a case where the values exceed the maximum threshold value (16) of the dither matrix S is also assumed.
- the halftone patterns of the black (K) and the yellow (Y) are determined using the following method.
- the signal value (16) that is the maximum threshold value of the dither matrix S is a signal value of X, and a remainder (4) thereof is a signal value of A.
- a threshold value of the dither matrix S is compared with the signal value (16) of X to determine a halftone pattern corresponding to the signal value of X.
- the halftone pattern corresponding to the signal value of the X is a pattern in which a threshold value portion with 16 or less of the dither matrix S has been printed.
- the halftone pattern corresponding to the signal value of X is compared with the halftone pattern of the magenta (M) determined in Fig. 7A to determine a halftone pattern Z in which the signal value of Y at a point at which the magenta (M) is printed has been erased in the halftone pattern corresponding to the signal value of X.
- This halftone pattern B is a pattern in which the threshold value portion with four or less of the dither matrix S is printed.
- the halftone pattern Z is compared with the halftone pattern B to determine the halftone pattern of the black (K).
- This halftone pattern of the black (K) is a pattern in which the halftone pattern Z and the halftone pattern B have overlapped.
- the halftone pattern of the black (K) includes a threshold value portion overlapping the halftone pattern of the magenta (M), but ink is color-mixed in the overlapped threshold value portion. That is, in the black (K) ink and the magenta (M) ink, a portion in which both liquid droplets overlap may be generated on the recording medium, that is, print positions may be the same.
- a portion in which both liquid droplets overlap may be generated on the recording medium, that is, print positions may be the same.
- the MKY inks are used for inkjet printing.
- other colors are not particularly limited as long as the magenta is used, and known colors, types, or number of inks can be used.
- the inks with two colors including the magenta, and the cyan, the yellow, or the black can be used, the inks with three colors including the magenta, the cyan, and the yellow, or the magenta, the cyan, and the black can be used, or the inks with four colors including the magenta, the black, the yellow, and the cyan can be used.
- the droplet ejection positions of the black (K) ink and the yellow (Y) ink can be the same positions such that the liquid droplets of inks of the respective inks with different coloring materials printed at a predetermined pitch on the corrugated fibreboard recording medium overlap. That is, the droplet ejection position of the magenta (M) ink, and the droplet ejection positions of the black (K) ink and the yellow (Y) ink are different, but the droplet ejection positions of the black (K) ink and the yellow (Y) ink can be the same positions to cause the print positions of the black (K) ink and the yellow (Y) ink to be the same.
- M magenta
- the droplet ejection positions of the black (K) ink and the yellow (Y) ink can be the same positions to cause the print positions of the black (K) ink and the yellow (Y) ink to be the same.
- the recording medium is not particularly limited as long as the recording medium is a corrugated fibreboard recording medium, but it is preferable to use a corrugated fibreboard called a K liner or a C liner.
- the halftone patterns of the respective colors have been determined to obtain the printing pattern in which liquid droplets of the plurality of inks other than the magenta, that is, the black (K) dots and the yellow (Y) dots overlap, as illustrated in Fig. 7
- the halftone patterns of the respective colors can also be determined to obtain a printing pattern in which overlap of liquid droplets of inks with different coloring materials, that is, the black (K) dots and the yellow (Y) dots is minimized and, preferably, to obtain a printing pattern in which the liquid droplets of inks with different coloring materials, that is, the black (K) dots and the yellow (Y) dots do not overlap at all as illustrated in Fig. 13 .
- Fig. 14 illustrates a flowchart of the halftone processing method according to this embodiment
- Figs. 15A to 15C are diagrams illustrating a determination order for halftone patterns of respective colors.
- step S12 After the color conversion process in step S12 ends, one dither matrix S suitable for image data (MKY image data) as illustrated in Fig. 10A is first determined in step S30, as in the first embodiment.
- the halftone pattern of the magenta (M) as illustrated in Fig. 15A is determined using the same method as in the first embodiment. That is, as illustrated in Fig. 10A , the threshold value of the dither matrix S is compared with the signal value (10) of the image data of the magenta (M) to determine the halftone pattern of the magenta (M).
- the halftone patterns of other colors are determined in an order of colors having a high visual density.
- step S34 a halftone pattern of a color having a high visual density and, in this embodiment, the black (K) as illustrated in Fig. 15B among the colors other than the magenta is determined.
- the halftone pattern of the black (K) is determined using the same method as in the first embodiment. That is, the halftone pattern of the black (K) is determined as illustrated in Figs. 10B to 10D and Figs. 12A to 12E .
- step S36 a halftone pattern of a color having a low visual density, that is, the yellow (Y) as illustrated in Fig. 15C among the colors other than the magenta is determined. That is, the halftone pattern of the yellow (Y) is determined not to overlap the halftones of the magenta (M) and the black (K) that have been previously determined.
- the signal value (16) that is the maximum threshold value of the dither matrix S is defined as a signal value of W, and a remainder (4) thereof is defined as a signal value of A.
- the threshold value of the dither matrix S is compared with the signal value (16) of the W to determine a halftone pattern corresponding to the signal value of W.
- the halftone pattern corresponding to the signal value of W is a pattern in which a threshold value portion with 16 or less of the dither matrix S has been printed.
- the halftone pattern corresponding to the signal value of W is compared with the halftone pattern of the magenta (M) to determine a halftone pattern Z in which the signal value of W at a point at which the M ink is printed has been erased in the halftone pattern corresponding to the signal value of W.
- M magenta
- the threshold value of the dither matrix S is compared with the signal value (4) of A to determine the halftone pattern B.
- This halftone pattern B is a pattern in which the threshold value portion with four or less of the dither matrix S is printed.
- the halftone pattern Z is compared with the halftone pattern B to determine the halftone pattern of the yellow (Y).
- This halftone pattern is a pattern in which the halftone pattern Z and the halftone pattern B have overlapped.
- the halftone pattern of the yellow (Y) includes a threshold value portion overlapping the halftone pattern of the magenta (M) or the black (K). That is, in the yellow (Y) ink, and the magenta (M) ink and the black (K) ink, a portion in which both liquid droplets overlap may be generated on the recording medium, that is, print positions may be the same.
- a portion in which both liquid droplets overlap may be generated on the recording medium, that is, print positions may be the same.
- two colors including the black and the yellow have been used as the colors other than the magenta.
- a combination of two other colors may be used, and inks of three or more colors may also be used.
- the halftone patterns are determined in an order of colors having a high visual density.
- the halftone patterns are determined in an order of colors having a high visual density after the halftone of the magenta (M) is determined, and, as illustrated in Figs. 18A to 18C , after the halftone of the magenta (M) illustrated in Fig. 18A is determined, the halftone pattern of the yellow (Y) illustrated in Fig. 18B may first be determined and then the halftone pattern of the black (K) illustrated in Fig. 18C may be determined.
- the present invention is not limited thereto, and different dither matrices can be used for the image data of the magenta (M) and the image data of two or more other colors (an X color) other than the magenta.
- Fig. 19 illustrates a flowchart of the halftone processing method according to this embodiment
- Figs. 20A and 20B are diagrams illustrating a method of determining the halftone pattern of each color.
- the dither matrix having values corresponding to the number of gradations of the magenta (M) is first determined as illustrated in Fig. 20A using a systematic dither method or the like in step S40, and a mask pattern obtained by rotating the determined dither matrix of the magenta (M) by 45° is arranged in a square grid in step S42 to determine the halftone pattern of the magenta (M). In this pattern, the magenta ink is treated not to be ejected onto a position at which there is no signal.
- a dither matrix having values corresponding to the number of gradations of other colors (the X color) other than the magenta ink as illustrated in Fig. 20B is determined using the systematic dither method or the like in step S44, and the determined dither matrix is rotated by 45°, and then a mask pattern thereof is arranged in a square grid and shifted by one pixel in the vertical direction and the horizontal direction not to overlap the mask pattern of the magenta ink determined in Fig. 20A (to be shifted by a half pitch) in step S46, and a resultant pattern is determined as the halftone pattern of the colors (the X color) other than the magenta.
- the X color ink is treated not to be ejected at a position at which there is no signal.
- FIG. 21 is a block diagram of an inkjet recording system for carrying out the image forming method according to the embodiment.
- An inkjet recording system 10 includes an image forming device 12 and an inkjet recording device 14.
- a color image is acquired as RGB data by an image data input unit 16 of the image forming device 12, and the input color image is recorded on a recording medium using a plurality of inks by an image output unit 24 of the inkjet recording device 14.
- a color conversion processing unit 18 converts the RGB data input from the image data input unit into image data (CKY data) of each color and outputs the CKY data.
- This CKY data includes image data of the magenta (M), image data of the black (K), and image data of the yellow (Y) separated for each color.
- a halftone processing unit 20 includes a dither matrix holding unit 26 that holds a pattern of the dither matrix, and a mask pattern determination unit 28 that determines a halftone pattern (mask pattern) of each color as a halftone image through dither matrix processing using a dither matrix on input image data (the image data of the magenta (M), the image data of the black (K), and the image data of the yellow (Y)), as illustrated in Fig. 22 .
- M magenta
- K image data of the black
- Y yellow
- the halftone processing unit 20 determines, in the mask pattern determination unit 28, the halftone pattern of each color by performing dithering conversion by performing a comparison process between the signal values included in the image data of the magenta (M), the image data of the black (K), and the image data of yellow (Y) and the threshold value of the dither matrix having a threshold value arrangement determined in advance in the main scanning direction and the sub-scanning direction stored in the dither matrix holding unit 26.
- the halftone pattern of each of the colors determined by the mask pattern determination unit 28 is output to a driving signal generation unit 22 of the inkjet recording device 14 as the output image data.
- the inkjet recording device 14 includes the driving signal generation unit 22, and an image output unit (recording head) 24 connected to the driving signal generation unit 22.
- the driving signal generation unit 22 receives the halftone pattern of each color from the halftone processing unit 20 as halftone image data, and generates a driving signal value for driving the image output unit 24 so that inks are jetted at a jetting amount according to an image signal value of the halftone pattern.
- the image output unit 24 is, for example, a recording head using an inkjet scheme that jets inks using expansion and contraction of a piezoelectric element, and the image output unit 24 jets the inks onto a recording medium to record a recording image.
- the recording head is not particularly limited as long as a plurality of arrays of inkjet heads in which a plurality of ink jetting nozzles are arranged in the sub-scanning direction (paper feeding direction) are arranged in a main scanning direction.
- other colors are not particularly limited as long as the magenta is used, and known colors or types of inks may be used.
- the inkjet recording device 14 used in the present invention is not particularly limited and a known inkjet recording device in the related art may be used.
- a recording head using a long line head in which ink jetting nozzles of respective colors corresponding to a recording width (print width) of a recording medium are arranged in one line or a plurality of lines or a recording head using a carriage type of a short inkjet head in which the ink jetting nozzles of respective colors shorter than the recording width of the recording medium are arranged in one line or a plurality of lines may be used as a recording head using an inkjet scheme.
- the recording medium is not particularly limited as long as the recording medium is a corrugated fibreboard recording medium and, for example, a corrugated fibreboard called a K liner or a C liner can be used.
- Resolution of the inkjet recording device is not particularly limited, and the resolution is preferably 300 dpi or more.
- a program that causes a personal computer (PC) to execute the respective steps of the image forming method according to the embodiment, and a storage medium having this program stored therein are also included in the present invention.
- a halftone image in which the droplet ejection positions of the magenta ink and the other inks with two or more colors that are ejected onto the corrugated fibreboard recording medium are different can be formed using a recording head as illustrated in Fig. 23 .
- a recording head 30 illustrated in Fig. 23 includes a magenta nozzle array 34M in which a plurality of nozzles 32M that jet magenta ink are arranged at a predetermined pitch in the main scanning direction and at equal intervals, a cyan nozzle array 34C in which a plurality of nozzles 32C that jet cyan ink are arranged at a predetermined in the main scanning direction and at equal intervals, and a yellow nozzle array 34Y in which a plurality of nozzles 32Y that jet yellow ink are arranged at a predetermined pitch in the main scanning direction and at equal intervals.
- the "predetermined pitch” used herein indicates a distance between centers of nozzle holes of the adjacent nozzles.
- the distance between the centers of the nozzle holes of the adjacent nozzles may be the "pitch in the vertical direction” and the “pitch in the horizontal direction” described with reference to Figs. 2A and 2B .
- the cyan nozzle array 34C and the yellow nozzle array 34Y are arranged to be shifted by a half pitch L in the sub-scanning direction with respect to the magenta nozzle array 34M.
- the cyan nozzle array 34C and the yellow nozzle array 34Y are arranged to be shifted by a half pitch in the sub-scanning direction with respect to the magenta nozzle array 34M in the above embodiment, and the cyan nozzle array 34C and the yellow nozzle array 34Y may be arranged to be shifted by a half pitch in the main scanning direction.
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Description
- The present invention relates to an image forming method, and particularly, to an image forming method of forming a halftone image on a corrugated fibreboard recording medium using an inkjet recording device.
- It is known that deterioration of an image called a mottle occurs in a case where multicolor printing is performed on a recording medium using an inkjet recording scheme. This phenomenon is due to the fact that since moisture exceeding the amount of moisture that can be absorbed into the recording medium is contained in an ink that is used in an inkjet recording device, an ink that cannot penetrate the recording medium overflows on a surface of the recording medium at the time of printing using the inkjet recording scheme and, as a result, movement of the ink occurs on the recording medium, resulting in light and shade of a pigment.
- In order to suppress such a mottle, a technology of providing a time difference in a case where each ink is ejected (
JP2012-61781A JP2013-66082A -
JP2012-61781A -
JP2013-66082A US 2010/045723 A1 teaches that print permitting ratios of the masks in the first to fourth passes of a C ink are respectively 6.2%, 37.5%, 37.5%, and 18.8%. On the other hand, the print permitting ratios of the masks in the first to fourth passes of an M ink are respectively 12.5%, 37.5%, 37.5%, and 12.5%. In this way, the respective masks are set such that a larger amount of the C ink is applied in a later pass as compared with the M ink. Thereby, it is possible to reduce an amount of the M ink to be applied later with respect to the C ink functioning to "reduce a permeation speed of an ink applied later by filling," and it is possible to prevent a permeation speed from slowing down overall. As a result, it is possible to prevent the occurrence of beading due to a time to complete permeation becoming longer. -
JP 2003-118150 A -
EP 1263209 A2 discloses A halftone screening method which creates screens of a plurality of colors, where each of the screens is divided into a plurality of cells, and intentionally changes a dot position of certain colors within cells of the screens of the certain colors relative to a dot position of a reference color within a cell of the screen of the reference color, so as to suppress a color tone change caused by positional errors of the screens. - In recent years, for multicolor printing on a corrugated fibreboard recording medium, introduction of digital printing using an inkjet recording scheme has been attempted with the advancement of an inkjet printing technology instead of so-called analog printing using a flexographic plate of the related art.
- Generation of the mottle as described above even in a case where printing using an inkjet recording scheme is performed on a corrugated fibreboard recording medium is known, but in the technologies disclosed in
JP2012-61781A JP2013-66082A - An object of the present invention is to solve the above problems of the related art and provide an efficient image forming method that does not generate a mottle in an image printed in multicolor on a corrugated fibreboard recording medium using an inkjet recording device.
- In order to achieve the above object, an image forming method of the present invention is an image forming method of forming a halftone image on a corrugated fibreboard recording medium using an inkjet recording device that uses magenta ink and other inks with two or more colors other than the magenta ink, and is defined in the appended claims. The image forming method comprises determining a droplet ejection position of the magenta ink and then determining droplet ejection positions of the other inks with two or more colors to be positions different from the droplet ejection position of the magenta ink, wherein in order to determine the droplet ejection position of the magenta ink and the droplet ejection positions of the other inks with two or more colors, a halftone pattern of the magenta ink having a predetermined pitch using a dither matrix is determined, and then, halftone patterns of other inks with the two or more colors having the predetermined pitch are determined to fill a predetermined area of the dither matrix to which the halftone pattern of the magenta ink is not assigned, wherein "predetermined pitch" refers to a distance between centers of adjacent liquid droplets of each color, wherein the droplet ejection positions of the other inks with two or more colors are determined so that print positions of a liquid droplet of the magenta ink and liquid droplets of the other inks with two or more colors that are ejected at the predetermined pitch onto the corrugated fibreboard recording medium are different, wherein "droplet ejection position" refers to a position designated so that an ink droplet is printed at the position on an image subjected to halftone processing, the position designated is any one of pixels that are determined at a predetermined pixel pitch on the image subjected to the halftone processing, "droplet ejection positions are the same" means that the pixels determined at the predetermined pixel pitch are the same, "droplet ejection positions are different" means that the pixels determined at the predetermined pixel pitch are different, "print position" refers to a position at which there is an ink liquid droplet on the corrugated fibreboard recording medium, "print positions are the same" means that a centroid of each liquid droplet formed on the corrugated fibreboard recording medium is present in the same pixel area that is determined by the predetermined pixel pitch, and "print positions are different" means that a centroid of each liquid droplet formed on the corrugated fibreboard recording medium is present in different pixel area that is determined by the predetermined pixel pitch, wherein the method comprises: determining a dither matrix (M1) having values corresponding to a number of gradations of a magenta ink, then rotating the determined dither matrix (M1) of the magenta ink by 45° to obtain a mask pattern of the magenta ink, then arranging in a square grid the mask pattern of the magenta ink to determine a halftone pattern of the magenta ink, wherein in this halftone pattern the magenta ink is treated not to be ejected onto a position at which there is no signal, then determining a dither matrix (M2) having values corresponding to a number of gradations of other inks with two or more colors other than the magenta ink, then rotating the determined dither matrix (M2) of the other inks with two or more colors other than the magenta ink by 45° to obtain a mask pattern of the inks with two or more colors other than the magenta ink, arranging in a square grid the mask patter of the rotated dither matrix (M2) of the other inks with two or more colors other than the magenta ink, and then shifting the mask pattern of the rotated dither matrix (M2) of the other inks with two or more colors other than the magenta ink by one pixel respectively by half of the predetermined pitch in the vertical direction and the horizontal direction so as not to overlap the mask pattern of the magenta ink, wherein the resultant pattern is determined as the halftone pattern of the inks with two or more colors other than the magenta ink, wherein each of the inks with two or more colors other than the magenta ink is treated not to be ejected at a position at which there is no signal.
- Here, the droplet ejection positions of the other inks with two or more colors are determined so that print positions of a liquid droplet of the magenta ink and liquid droplets of the other inks with two or more colors that are ejected at a predetermined pitch onto the corrugated fibreboard recording medium are different.
- Here, the droplet ejection positions of the other inks with two or more colors are determined so that print positions of the liquid droplets of inks having different coloring materials to be ejected at a predetermined pitch on the corrugated fibreboard recording medium are different.
- Here, determined is a halftone pattern of the magenta ink having the predetermined pitch using a dither matrix, and then, determined are halftone patterns of other inks with the two or more colors having the predetermined pitch to fill a predetermined area of the dither matrix to which the halftone pattern of the magenta ink is not assigned in order to determine the droplet ejection position of the magenta ink and the droplet ejection positions of the other inks with two or more colors.
- The predetermined area of the dither matrix to which the halftone pattern of the magenta ink is not assigned is an area included in an area in which the halftone pattern of the magenta ink and the halftone pattern of other inks with two or more colors overlap, and is an area at a position on the dither matrix in a case where the droplet ejection position at which the dot of magenta ink is not printed on the halftone pattern of the magenta ink is projected onto the dither matrix of other inks with two or more colors.
- According to the present invention, in a case where multicolor printing is performed on a corrugated fibreboard recording medium using an inkjet recording scheme, it is possible to easily form an image in which a mottle is not generated.
- Further, according to the present invention, it is possible to easily and efficiently generate the image pattern of each color that is printed in multicolor on the corrugated fibreboard recording medium.
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Fig. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an example of an image forming method according to a first embodiment not falling under the scope of the present invention. -
Figs. 2A and 2B are diagrams illustrating a term "predetermined pitch". -
Fig. 3 is a diagram illustrating a state in which "the droplet ejection position is different" and a state in which "the droplet ejection position is the same". -
Fig. 4 is a diagram illustrating a state in which "print positions are different" and a state in which "print positions are the same". -
Fig. 5 is a graph illustrating each usage amount and a total ink amount of CMYK inks that are used in a case where 18 colors defined by JCS (corrugated fibreboard industry standard) are reproduced by inkjet printing. -
Fig. 6 is a diagram illustrating a print pattern according to a first embodiment not falling under the scope of the present invention. -
Fig. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of a print pattern according to the first embodiment not falling under the scope of the present invention. -
Fig. 8 is a flowchart illustrating a halftone processing method according to the first embodiment not falling under the scope of the present invention. -
Figs. 9A to 9C are diagrams illustrating a determination order of halftone patterns according to the first embodiment not falling under the scope of the present invention. -
Figs. 10A to 10D are diagrams illustrating a method of determining a halftone pattern of each color according to the first embodiment not falling under the scope of the present invention. -
Figs. 11A to 11C are diagrams illustrating a method of determining a halftone pattern of each color according to the first embodiment not falling under the scope of the present invention. -
Figs. 12A to 12E are diagrams illustrating a method of determining a halftone pattern of each color according to the first embodiment not falling under the scope of the present invention. -
Fig. 13 is a diagram illustrating an example of a print pattern according to a second embodiment not falling under the scope of the present invention. -
Fig. 14 is a flowchart illustrating a halftone processing method according to the second embodiment not falling under the scope of the present invention. -
Figs. 15A to 15C are diagrams illustrating an order of determining a mask pattern of each ink according to the second embodiment not falling under the scope of the present invention. -
Figs. 16A to 16C are diagrams illustrating a method of determining a halftone pattern of each color according to the second embodiment not falling under the scope of the present invention. -
Figs. 17A and 17B are diagrams illustrating a method of determining a halftone pattern of each color according to the second embodiment not falling under the scope of the present invention. -
Figs. 18A to 18C are diagrams illustrating a modification example of the order of determining a mask pattern of each ink according to the second embodiment not falling under the scope of the present invention. -
Fig. 19 is a flowchart illustrating a halftone processing method according to a third embodiment falling under the scope of the present invention. -
Figs. 20A and 20B are diagrams illustrating a method of determining a halftone pattern of each color according to the third embodiment falling under the scope of the present invention. -
Fig. 21 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an inkjet recording system according to the first to third embodiment falling under the scope of the present invention. -
Fig. 22 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a halftone processing unit illustrated inFig. 21 . -
Fig. 23 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a recording head according to a fourth embodiment not falling under the scope of the present invention. - Hereinafter, an image forming method according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to embodiments illustrated in the accompanying drawings. [First Embodiment] - not falling under the scope of the present invention
-
Fig. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of an image forming method according to a first embodiment not falling under the scope of the present invention. - In the image forming method, a color image is acquired as RGB data, and a halftone image is recorded on a corrugated fibreboard recording medium using a printing device (inkjet recording device) according to an inkjet recording scheme of ejecting coloring materials (ink) of M (magenta), C (cyan), Y (yellow) and K (black) at a predetermined pitch.
- First, in step S10, image data (RGB data) to be output by the inkjet recording device is acquired.
- Then, in step S12, the acquired RGB data is converted into image data of each of three colors in MCYK, such as MCY, MCK, or MYK, or four colors of MCYK.
- Then, in step S16, halftone processing is performed on the image data after a color conversion process to determine a halftone pattern (mask pattern) of each color.
- Here, the halftone pattern to be determined of each color is determined so that a droplet ejection position of M ink and droplet ejection positions of inks excluding the M ink, that is, K ink, Y ink, and C ink are different from each other in a halftone image formed by overlap, that is, the image subjected to the halftone process.
- Here, the term "predetermined pitch" used in this embodiment will be described with reference to
Figs. 2A and 2B. Figs. 2A and 2B illustrate liquid droplets (dots) in a case where predetermined ink is ejected while moving the recording medium in a sub-scanning direction, and a square grid (4 × 4) inFigs. 2A and 2B indicates pixels. - In a case where dots are formed as illustrated in
Fig. 2A , the "predetermined pitch" refers to a distance between centers of adjacent liquid droplets. A pitch in a sub-scanning direction is referred to as a "vertical direction pitch", and a pitch in a main scanning direction is referred to as a "horizontal direction pitch". - As illustrated in
Fig. 2B , in a case where liquid droplets are formed on the square grid ofFig. 2A rotated by 45°, the "predetermined pitch" refers to a distance between adjacent liquid droplets in the main scanning direction or the sub scanning direction. The distance between adjacent liquid droplets in the sub scanning direction is referred to as a "vertical direction pitch", and the distance between adjacent dots in the main scanning direction is referred to as a "horizontal direction pitch". - Further, an expression "the droplet ejection positions are different/the same" used in this embodiment will be described with reference to
Figs. 3(A) and 3(B). Fig. 3(A) illustrates a state in which the droplet ejection positions are different, andFig. 3(B) illustrates a state in which the droplet ejection positions are the same. - First, as a premise, the "droplet ejection position" refers to a position designated so that an ink droplet is printed at the position on an image subjected to halftone processing (halftone dot processing), that is, on binarized (or ternarized or quaternarized) image data.
Figs. 3(A) and 3(B) illustrate a state in which cyan and magenta have been ejected at any one of pixels (x0, y1), (x1, y1), (X0, y0), and (x1, y0) that are determined at a predetermined pixel pitch (a "pitch" inFigs. 3(A) and 3(B) ) on the image subjected to the halftone processing. - The state in which "droplet ejection positions are different" refers to a state in which the droplet ejection positions of ink are formed at different pixel positions on the image subjected to the halftone process, that is, a state in which cyan is ejected onto (x0, y1) and (x1, y0) and the magenta is ejected onto (X0, y0) and (x1, y1), as illustrated in
Fig. 3(A) . - On the other hand, the state "droplet ejection positions are the same" refers to a state in which the ink droplet ejection positions are formed at the same pixel positions on the image subjected to the halftone processing, that is, a state, droplets of cyan and magenta are not ejected onto (x0, y0) and (x1, y 1), droplets of the cyan and the magenta are ejected onto (x0, y1) and (x1, y0), the colors are mixed, and blue is generated, as illustrated in
Fig. 3(B) . - In
Fig. 3(A) and Fig. 3(B) , cyan and magenta are used as the ink droplets, but the ink droplets are not limited to these inks as long as the inks are different coloring materials. - Further, an expression "print positions are different/the same" used in this embodiment will be described with reference to
Fig. 4(A) and Fig. 4(B). Fig. 4(A) illustrates a state in which the print positions are different, andFig. 4(B) illustrates a state in which the print positions are the same. - First, as a premise, the "print position" refers to a position at which there is an ink liquid droplet on the recording medium.
- The expression "print positions are different" refers to a state in which a centroid of each liquid droplet formed on the recording medium is present in a different pixel area that is determined by a predetermined pixel pitch and refers to a state in which centroids G of the cyan liquid droplet and the magenta liquid droplet are present in different pixel areas (pixel areas determined by the pitch in the vertical direction and the pitch in the horizontal direction in
Fig. 4(A) ) as illustrated inFig. 4(A) . - On the other hand, the expression "print positions are the same" refers to a state in which a centroid of each liquid droplet formed on the recording medium is present in the same pixel area that is determined by a predetermined pixel pitch and refers to a state in which centroids G of the cyan liquid droplet and the magenta liquid droplet are present in the same pixel areas (pixel areas determined by the pitch in the vertical direction and the pitch in the horizontal direction in
Fig. 4(B) ) as illustrated inFig. 4(B) . - In
Figs. 4(A) and 4(B) , cyan and magenta are used as the ink droplets, but the ink droplets are not limited to such inks as long as ink droplets are different coloring materials. - Such image forming conditions have been found by the present inventors conducting intensive research on image formation on a corrugated fibreboard recording medium using an inkjet recording scheme and finding out the following content.
- As described above, in a case where multicolor printing is performed on a corrugated fibreboard recording medium using an inkjet recording device, an image in which a mottle is generated is generated. Generally, however, in the corrugated printing, printing for reproducing a color selected from among 18 kinds of colors defined in a color standard (JCSM 0001: 2000) printed on a corrugated fibreboard prescribed as the Japan Corrugated Industry Association industry standard (JCS) is actually performed. Therefore, the present inventors investigated a usage amount and a total ink amount of the C ink, the M ink, the Y ink, and the K ink that are used to reproduce 18 kinds of colors in inkjet printing onto a corrugated fibreboard recording medium, and a result as illustrated in
Fig. 5 was obtained. A vertical axis inFig. 5 indicates each ink usage amount and a total ink amount, and a horizontal axis indicates 18 kinds of color names and code numbers thereof defined by JCS. - From the result illustrated in
Fig. 5 , the inventors have found that a mottle is bad in a case where colors regarding areas illustrated in (A) to (C) inFig. 5 , that is, areas with a large total ink amount are reproduced, and a deviation is generated in the usage amount of CMYK ink as illustrated in (1) to (4) below. - That is, the inventors have found that (1) a total ink amount may be small in a case where C ink and the Y ink are simultaneously printed, (2) as illustrated in the area (A) in
Fig. 5 , the total ink amount may be large in a case where the M ink and the Y ink are simultaneously printed, (3) as illustrated in the area (B) inFig. 5 , the total ink amount may be large in a case where the M ink and the C ink are simultaneously printed, and (4) as illustrated in the area (C) inFig. 5 , the total ink amount may be large in a case where the M ink, the Y ink, and the K ink are simultaneously printed, and that a printing ratio of the Y ink and the K ink is less than 100% in total, and the ink usage amount of the M ink is relatively larger than the ink usage amounts of the Y ink and the K ink. - Further, the present inventors have repeated intensive research and found from the findings (2) above that it is possible to realize an image in which generation of a mottle has been suppressed and deterioration of graininess has been suppressed as much as possible by forming the halftone image so that the print positions of liquid droplets of the M ink and liquid droplets of other inks with two or more colors are different to make it easy to absorb inks into the corrugated fibreboard recording medium. That is, the present inventors have found that it is preferable to form the halftone so that the droplet ejection positions of the M ink and the Y ink are different as illustrated in
Fig. 6(A) , droplet ejection positions of the M ink and the C ink are different as illustrated inFig. 6(B) from the findings (3) above, and droplet ejection positions of the M ink, the Y ink, and the K ink are different and droplet ejection positions of the Y ink and the K ink are different as illustrated inFig. 6(C) from the findings (4) above. - Details of the halftone processing method found in this way will be described below.
- Finally, in step S18, a halftone image is formed on the recording medium by the inkjet recording device on the basis of the image signal of the halftone pattern of each color determined through the halftone process, and the image formation method according to this embodiment ends.
- Next, the halftone process in step S16 described above will be described in detail with reference to
Figs. 7 to 12 . - Here, halftone processing in inkjet printing using MKY inks will be described.
-
Fig. 7 illustrates an example of a print pattern that is printed on a recording medium by the inkjet recording device in this embodiment. InFig. 7 , dots indicated by a mesh indicate magenta (M), dots indicated by oblique lines indicate yellow (Y), dots indicated by sand indicate black (K). Here, the magenta dots and dots of other colors (the black dots and the yellow dots) are formed so that print positions are different. That is, the magenta dots and the dots of the other color (the black dots and the yellow dots) have different droplet ejection positions on a halftone image. Further, the black dots and the yellow dots are formed so that the print positions are the same. -
Fig. 8 illustrates a flowchart of a halftone processing method according to this embodiment, andFigs. 9A to 9C are diagrams illustrating an order of determining a halftone pattern of each color.Figs. 10 to 12 are diagrams illustrating a method of determining a halftone pattern of each color. - First, after the color conversion process in step S12 ends, one dither matrix S suitable for image data (MYK image data) as illustrated in
Fig. 10A is first determined in step S20. This dither matrix S has a threshold value pattern of 4 rows × 4 columns, in which integers of 1 to 16 are randomly arranged one by one as threshold values, and portions (threshold value portions) to which the threshold values of the dither matrix S are written correspond to droplet ejection positions of inks that are jetted from an inkjet nozzle. Further, the liquid droplet (dot) that is jetted from the inkjet nozzle, ejected onto the recording medium, and formed is assumed to correspond to a size satisfying one threshold value portion thereof. - The matrix (pixel pattern) illustrated here is represented as a pixel pattern with 4×4 (= 16) gradations, but this is one example. Since the matrix is determined according to the gradation of the halftone image, a matrix with 8×8 (64 gradations), 16 × 16 (256 gradations), or the like can also be used.
- Then, in step S22, the halftone pattern of the magenta (M) as illustrated in
Fig. 9A is determined. - As illustrated in
Fig. 10A , the threshold value of the dither matrix S is compared with the signal value (10) of the image data of the magenta (M) to determine the halftone pattern of the magenta (M). In this halftone pattern of the magenta (M), the threshold value portions of 10 or less of the dither matrix S are printed. - Then, in step S24, the halftone patterns of the colors other than the magenta as illustrated in
Figs. 9B and 9C , that is, the black and the yellow are determined. - In this step, although an order of determining the halftone patterns of the colors other than the magenta is not particularly limited, and a method of determining a halftone pattern of the black (K) as the color other than the magenta will first be described with reference to
Figs. 10B to 10D . - First, as illustrated in
Fig. 10B , a signal value (14) obtained by adding a signal value (10) of image data of the magenta (M) to a signal value (4) of the black (K) is generated as a signal value of X and, as illustrated inFig. 10C , the signal value (14) of X is compared with the threshold value of the dither matrix S to determine a halftone pattern corresponding to the signal value of X, that is, a halftone pattern in which the magenta (M) and the black (K) are superimposed on each other. In the halftone pattern corresponding to the signal value of X, threshold value portions with 14 or less of the dither matrix S are printed. Then, as illustrated inFig. 10D , the halftone pattern corresponding to the signal value of X is compared with the halftone pattern of the magenta (M) to determine the halftone pattern of the black (K). In this halftone pattern of the black (K), a signal value of X at a position at the magenta (M) is printed is erased in the halftone pattern corresponding to the signal value of X. - Next, a method of determining the halftone pattern of the yellow (Y) will be described with reference to
Figs. 11A to 11C . For the determination of the halftone of the yellow (Y), the same method as the method of determining the halftone pattern of the black (K) is used. - That is, as illustrated in
Fig. 11A , a signal value (16) obtained by adding a signal value (10) of the image data of the magenta (M) to a signal value (6) of the image data of the yellow (Y) is generated as a signal value of X and, as illustrated inFig. 11B , this signal value (16) of X is compared with the threshold value of the dither matrix S to determine a halftone pattern corresponding to the signal value of X, that is, a halftone pattern in which the magenta (M) and the yellow (Y) overlap. In the halftone pattern corresponding to the signal value of X, a threshold value portion with 16 or less of the dither matrix S is printed. Then, as illustrated inFig. 11C , the halftone pattern corresponding to the signal value of X is compared with the halftone pattern of the magenta (M) to determine the halftone pattern of the yellow (Y). In this halftone pattern of the yellow (Y), the signal value of X at a position at which the magenta (M) is printed has been erased in the halftone pattern corresponding to the signal value of X. - Thus, the image data for determining the halftone patterns of the magenta, the black, and the yellow as illustrated in
Figs. 9A to 9C is formed. That is, the halftone image is formed in which the droplet ejection position of the magenta and the droplet ejection positions of the other color dots (black dots and yellow dots) are different. - In a case where inks are ejected onto the recording medium on the basis of the halftone image formed here, a printing pattern as illustrated in
Fig. 7 is formed. That is, an image is formed in which the print positions of the magenta dots and the other color dots (black dots and yellow dots) are different, and the print positions of the black dots and the yellow dots are the same. - In the above-described embodiment, the case where the value obtained by adding the signal value (10) of the image data of the magenta (M) to the signal value (4) of the image data of the black (K) and the signal value of X calculated by adding the signal value (10) of the image data of the magenta (M) to the signal value (6) of the image data of the yellow (Y) are signal values equal to or smaller than a maximum threshold value (16) of the dither matrix S as illustrated in
Figs. 10B and11A has been illustrated, but a case where the values exceed the maximum threshold value (16) of the dither matrix S is also assumed. In such a case, the halftone patterns of the black (K) and the yellow (Y) are determined using the following method. - As illustrated in
Fig. 12A , in a signal value (20) generated by adding a signal value (10) of the image data of the magenta (M) to a signal value (10) of the image data of the black (K), the signal value (16) that is the maximum threshold value of the dither matrix S is a signal value of X, and a remainder (4) thereof is a signal value of A. - Then, as illustrated in
Fig. 12B , a threshold value of the dither matrix S is compared with the signal value (16) of X to determine a halftone pattern corresponding to the signal value of X. The halftone pattern corresponding to the signal value of the X is a pattern in which a threshold value portion with 16 or less of the dither matrix S has been printed. - Then, as illustrated in
Fig. 12C , the halftone pattern corresponding to the signal value of X is compared with the halftone pattern of the magenta (M) determined inFig. 7A to determine a halftone pattern Z in which the signal value of Y at a point at which the magenta (M) is printed has been erased in the halftone pattern corresponding to the signal value of X. - Then, as illustrated in
Fig. 12D , the threshold value of the dither matrix S is compared with the signal value (4) of A to determine the halftone pattern B. This halftone pattern B is a pattern in which the threshold value portion with four or less of the dither matrix S is printed. - As illustrated in
Fig. 12E , the halftone pattern Z is compared with the halftone pattern B to determine the halftone pattern of the black (K). This halftone pattern of the black (K) is a pattern in which the halftone pattern Z and the halftone pattern B have overlapped. - The halftone pattern of the black (K) includes a threshold value portion overlapping the halftone pattern of the magenta (M), but ink is color-mixed in the overlapped threshold value portion. That is, in the black (K) ink and the magenta (M) ink, a portion in which both liquid droplets overlap may be generated on the recording medium, that is, print positions may be the same. However, using the halftone creation method illustrated in
Figs. 12A to 12E , it is possible to create the halftone pattern of the black (K) in which the threshold value portion in which the magenta (M) and the black (K) overlap is minimized, that is, the overlap of the liquid droplets of the magenta (M) ink and the liquid droplets of the black (K) ink is minimized. - Even in a case where the value obtained by adding the signal value (10) of the image data of the magenta (M) to the signal value (6) of the image data of the yellow (Y) exceeds the
maximum threshold value 16 of the dither matrix S, it is possible to determine the halftone pattern of the yellow (Y) using the same method. - In this embodiment, the case where the MKY inks are used for inkjet printing has been described. For colors or types of inks used for inkjet printing, other colors are not particularly limited as long as the magenta is used, and known colors, types, or number of inks can be used. For example, the inks with two colors including the magenta, and the cyan, the yellow, or the black can be used, the inks with three colors including the magenta, the cyan, and the yellow, or the magenta, the cyan, and the black can be used, or the inks with four colors including the magenta, the black, the yellow, and the cyan can be used.
- Further, although the droplet ejection positions of the respective inks are different in this embodiment, the droplet ejection positions of the black (K) ink and the yellow (Y) ink can be the same positions such that the liquid droplets of inks of the respective inks with different coloring materials printed at a predetermined pitch on the corrugated fibreboard recording medium overlap. That is, the droplet ejection position of the magenta (M) ink, and the droplet ejection positions of the black (K) ink and the yellow (Y) ink are different, but the droplet ejection positions of the black (K) ink and the yellow (Y) ink can be the same positions to cause the print positions of the black (K) ink and the yellow (Y) ink to be the same.
- The recording medium is not particularly limited as long as the recording medium is a corrugated fibreboard recording medium, but it is preferable to use a corrugated fibreboard called a K liner or a C liner.
- Although in the first embodiment (not falling under the scope of the present invention), the halftone patterns of the respective colors have been determined to obtain the printing pattern in which liquid droplets of the plurality of inks other than the magenta, that is, the black (K) dots and the yellow (Y) dots overlap, as illustrated in
Fig. 7 , the halftone patterns of the respective colors can also be determined to obtain a printing pattern in which overlap of liquid droplets of inks with different coloring materials, that is, the black (K) dots and the yellow (Y) dots is minimized and, preferably, to obtain a printing pattern in which the liquid droplets of inks with different coloring materials, that is, the black (K) dots and the yellow (Y) dots do not overlap at all as illustrated inFig. 13 . -
Fig. 14 illustrates a flowchart of the halftone processing method according to this embodiment, andFigs. 15A to 15C are diagrams illustrating a determination order for halftone patterns of respective colors. - First, after the color conversion process in step S12 ends, one dither matrix S suitable for image data (MKY image data) as illustrated in
Fig. 10A is first determined in step S30, as in the first embodiment. - Further, in subsequent step S32, the halftone pattern of the magenta (M) as illustrated in
Fig. 15A is determined using the same method as in the first embodiment. That is, as illustrated inFig. 10A , the threshold value of the dither matrix S is compared with the signal value (10) of the image data of the magenta (M) to determine the halftone pattern of the magenta (M). - After the halftone of the magenta (M) has been determined in this way, the halftone patterns of other colors are determined in an order of colors having a high visual density.
- In step S34, a halftone pattern of a color having a high visual density and, in this embodiment, the black (K) as illustrated in
Fig. 15B among the colors other than the magenta is determined. In this step S34, the halftone pattern of the black (K) is determined using the same method as in the first embodiment. That is, the halftone pattern of the black (K) is determined as illustrated inFigs. 10B to 10D andFigs. 12A to 12E . - Then, in step S36, a halftone pattern of a color having a low visual density, that is, the yellow (Y) as illustrated in
Fig. 15C among the colors other than the magenta is determined. That is, the halftone pattern of the yellow (Y) is determined not to overlap the halftones of the magenta (M) and the black (K) that have been previously determined. - An example of a method of determining the halftone pattern of the yellow (Y) will be described with reference to
Figs. 16A to 16C andFigs. 17A and 17B . - As illustrated in
Fig. 16A , in a signal value (20) generated by adding the signal value (4) of the image data of the black (K) and the signal value (6) of the image data of the yellow (Y) to the signal value (10) of the image data of the magenta (M), the signal value (16) that is the maximum threshold value of the dither matrix S is defined as a signal value of W, and a remainder (4) thereof is defined as a signal value of A. - As illustrated in
Fig. 16B , the threshold value of the dither matrix S is compared with the signal value (16) of the W to determine a halftone pattern corresponding to the signal value of W. The halftone pattern corresponding to the signal value of W is a pattern in which a threshold value portion with 16 or less of the dither matrix S has been printed. - As illustrated in
Fig. 16C , the halftone pattern corresponding to the signal value of W is compared with the halftone pattern of the magenta (M) to determine a halftone pattern Z in which the signal value of W at a point at which the M ink is printed has been erased in the halftone pattern corresponding to the signal value of W. - As illustrated in
Fig. 17A , the threshold value of the dither matrix S is compared with the signal value (4) of A to determine the halftone pattern B. This halftone pattern B is a pattern in which the threshold value portion with four or less of the dither matrix S is printed. - As illustrated in
Fig. 17B , the halftone pattern Z is compared with the halftone pattern B to determine the halftone pattern of the yellow (Y). This halftone pattern is a pattern in which the halftone pattern Z and the halftone pattern B have overlapped. - The halftone pattern of the yellow (Y) includes a threshold value portion overlapping the halftone pattern of the magenta (M) or the black (K). That is, in the yellow (Y) ink, and the magenta (M) ink and the black (K) ink, a portion in which both liquid droplets overlap may be generated on the recording medium, that is, print positions may be the same. However, using the halftone creation method illustrated in
Figs. 17A and 17B , it is possible to create the halftone pattern of the yellow (Y) in which the threshold value portion overlapping the yellow (Y), and the magenta (M) and the black (K) is minimized, that is, the overlap of the liquid droplets of the yellow (Y) ink, and the magenta (M) and black (K) inks is minimized. - Thus, the halftone patterns of the magenta, the black, and the yellow as illustrated in
Figs. 15A to 15C are determined. - In this embodiment, two colors including the black and the yellow have been used as the colors other than the magenta. A combination of two other colors may be used, and inks of three or more colors may also be used. In this case, the halftone patterns are determined in an order of colors having a high visual density.
- Further, in this embodiment, the halftone patterns are determined in an order of colors having a high visual density after the halftone of the magenta (M) is determined, and, as illustrated in
Figs. 18A to 18C , after the halftone of the magenta (M) illustrated inFig. 18A is determined, the halftone pattern of the yellow (Y) illustrated inFig. 18B may first be determined and then the halftone pattern of the black (K) illustrated inFig. 18C may be determined. - Although the dither matrix that is common to the image data of the respective colors has been used in order to determine the halftone patterns of the respective colors in the first embodiment and the second embodiment, the present invention is not limited thereto, and different dither matrices can be used for the image data of the magenta (M) and the image data of two or more other colors (an X color) other than the magenta.
- An example of a halftone processing method according to the third embodiment falling under the scope of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to
Figs. 19 and20 .Fig. 19 illustrates a flowchart of the halftone processing method according to this embodiment, andFigs. 20A and 20B are diagrams illustrating a method of determining the halftone pattern of each color. - The dither matrix having values corresponding to the number of gradations of the magenta (M) is first determined as illustrated in
Fig. 20A using a systematic dither method or the like in step S40, and a mask pattern obtained by rotating the determined dither matrix of the magenta (M) by 45° is arranged in a square grid in step S42 to determine the halftone pattern of the magenta (M). In this pattern, the magenta ink is treated not to be ejected onto a position at which there is no signal. - Then, a dither matrix having values corresponding to the number of gradations of other colors (the X color) other than the magenta ink as illustrated in
Fig. 20B is determined using the systematic dither method or the like in step S44, and the determined dither matrix is rotated by 45°, and then a mask pattern thereof is arranged in a square grid and shifted by one pixel in the vertical direction and the horizontal direction not to overlap the mask pattern of the magenta ink determined inFig. 20A (to be shifted by a half pitch) in step S46, and a resultant pattern is determined as the halftone pattern of the colors (the X color) other than the magenta. In this pattern, the X color ink is treated not to be ejected at a position at which there is no signal. - Thus, since a degree of freedom of a position at which each halftone pattern is arranged is increased by using different dither matrices in the magenta (M) and the colors (the X color) other than the magenta, it is possible to improve image structure image quality (graininess and sharpness).
-
Fig. 21 is a block diagram of an inkjet recording system for carrying out the image forming method according to the embodiment. Aninkjet recording system 10 includes animage forming device 12 and aninkjet recording device 14. - In the
inkjet recording system 10, a color image is acquired as RGB data by an imagedata input unit 16 of theimage forming device 12, and the input color image is recorded on a recording medium using a plurality of inks by animage output unit 24 of theinkjet recording device 14. - A color
conversion processing unit 18 converts the RGB data input from the image data input unit into image data (CKY data) of each color and outputs the CKY data. This CKY data includes image data of the magenta (M), image data of the black (K), and image data of the yellow (Y) separated for each color. - A
halftone processing unit 20 includes a dithermatrix holding unit 26 that holds a pattern of the dither matrix, and a maskpattern determination unit 28 that determines a halftone pattern (mask pattern) of each color as a halftone image through dither matrix processing using a dither matrix on input image data (the image data of the magenta (M), the image data of the black (K), and the image data of the yellow (Y)), as illustrated inFig. 22 . - The
halftone processing unit 20 determines, in the maskpattern determination unit 28, the halftone pattern of each color by performing dithering conversion by performing a comparison process between the signal values included in the image data of the magenta (M), the image data of the black (K), and the image data of yellow (Y) and the threshold value of the dither matrix having a threshold value arrangement determined in advance in the main scanning direction and the sub-scanning direction stored in the dithermatrix holding unit 26. The halftone pattern of each of the colors determined by the maskpattern determination unit 28 is output to a drivingsignal generation unit 22 of theinkjet recording device 14 as the output image data. - The
inkjet recording device 14 includes the drivingsignal generation unit 22, and an image output unit (recording head) 24 connected to the drivingsignal generation unit 22. - The driving
signal generation unit 22 receives the halftone pattern of each color from thehalftone processing unit 20 as halftone image data, and generates a driving signal value for driving theimage output unit 24 so that inks are jetted at a jetting amount according to an image signal value of the halftone pattern. - The
image output unit 24 is, for example, a recording head using an inkjet scheme that jets inks using expansion and contraction of a piezoelectric element, and theimage output unit 24 jets the inks onto a recording medium to record a recording image. The recording head is not particularly limited as long as a plurality of arrays of inkjet heads in which a plurality of ink jetting nozzles are arranged in the sub-scanning direction (paper feeding direction) are arranged in a main scanning direction. For colors or types of inks output from the ink jetting nozzles, other colors are not particularly limited as long as the magenta is used, and known colors or types of inks may be used. - The
inkjet recording device 14 used in the present invention is not particularly limited and a known inkjet recording device in the related art may be used. For example, in theinkjet recording device 14, although not particularly illustrated, a recording head using a long line head in which ink jetting nozzles of respective colors corresponding to a recording width (print width) of a recording medium are arranged in one line or a plurality of lines or a recording head using a carriage type of a short inkjet head in which the ink jetting nozzles of respective colors shorter than the recording width of the recording medium are arranged in one line or a plurality of lines may be used as a recording head using an inkjet scheme. - The recording medium is not particularly limited as long as the recording medium is a corrugated fibreboard recording medium and, for example, a corrugated fibreboard called a K liner or a C liner can be used.
- Resolution of the inkjet recording device is not particularly limited, and the resolution is preferably 300 dpi or more.
- Further, a program that causes a personal computer (PC) to execute the respective steps of the image forming method according to the embodiment, and a storage medium having this program stored therein are also included in the present invention.
- Although the method of forming the halftone image by determining the halftone patterns of the magenta ink and other inks with two or more colors other than the magenta ink using the dither matrix to determine the droplet ejection positions of the magenta ink and the other inks with two or more colors that are ejected onto the corrugated fibreboard recording medium has been described in the above embodiment, a halftone image in which the droplet ejection positions of the magenta ink and the other inks with two or more colors that are ejected onto the corrugated fibreboard recording medium are different can be formed using a recording head as illustrated in
Fig. 23 . - A
recording head 30 illustrated inFig. 23 includes amagenta nozzle array 34M in which a plurality ofnozzles 32M that jet magenta ink are arranged at a predetermined pitch in the main scanning direction and at equal intervals, acyan nozzle array 34C in which a plurality ofnozzles 32C that jet cyan ink are arranged at a predetermined in the main scanning direction and at equal intervals, and ayellow nozzle array 34Y in which a plurality ofnozzles 32Y that jet yellow ink are arranged at a predetermined pitch in the main scanning direction and at equal intervals. - The "predetermined pitch" used herein indicates a distance between centers of nozzle holes of the adjacent nozzles. The distance between the centers of the nozzle holes of the adjacent nozzles may be the "pitch in the vertical direction" and the "pitch in the horizontal direction" described with reference to
Figs. 2A and 2B . - The
cyan nozzle array 34C and theyellow nozzle array 34Y are arranged to be shifted by a half pitch L in the sub-scanning direction with respect to themagenta nozzle array 34M. - Although the
cyan nozzle array 34C and theyellow nozzle array 34Y are arranged to be shifted by a half pitch in the sub-scanning direction with respect to themagenta nozzle array 34M in the above embodiment, and thecyan nozzle array 34C and theyellow nozzle array 34Y may be arranged to be shifted by a half pitch in the main scanning direction. -
- 10:
- inkjet recording system
- 12:
- image forming device
- 14:
- inkjet recording device
- 16:
- image data input unit
- 18:
- color conversion processing unit
- 20:
- halftone processing unit
- 22:
- driving signal generation unit
- 24:
- image output unit
- 26:
- dither matrix holding unit
- 28:
- mask pattern determination unit
- 30:
- recording head
- 32M, 32C, 32Y:
- jetting nozzle
- 34M, 34C, 34Y:
- nozzle array
Claims (1)
- An image forming method of forming a halftone image on a corrugated fibreboard recording medium using an inkjet recording device that uses magenta ink and other inks with two or more colors other than the magenta ink, the image forming method comprising:determining a droplet ejection position of the magenta ink and then determining droplet ejection positions of the other inks with two or more colors to be positions different from the droplet ejection position of the magenta ink, wherein in order to determine the droplet ejection position of the magenta ink and the droplet ejection positions of the other inks with two or more colors, a halftone pattern of the magenta ink having a predetermined pitch using a dither matrix is determined, and then, halftone patterns of other inks with the two or more colors having the predetermined pitch are determined to fill a predetermined area of the dither matrix to which the halftone pattern of the magenta ink is not assigned,wherein "predetermined pitch" refers to a distance between centers of adjacent liquid droplets of each color,wherein the droplet ejection positions of the other inks with two or more colors are determined so that print positions of a liquid droplet of the magenta ink and liquid droplets of the other inks with two or more colors that are ejected at the predetermined pitch onto the corrugated fibreboard recording medium are different,wherein "droplet ejection position" refers to a position designated so that an ink droplet is printed at the position on an image subjected to halftone processing, the position designated is any one of pixels that are determined at a predetermined pixel pitch on the image subjected to the halftone processing,"droplet ejection positions are the same" means that the pixels determined at the predetermined pixel pitch are the same,"droplet ejection positions are different" means that the pixels determined at the predetermined pixel pitch are different,"print position" refers to a position at which there is an ink liquid droplet on the corrugated fibreboard recording medium,"print positions are the same" means that a centroid of each liquid droplet formed on the corrugated fibreboard recording medium is present in the same pixel area that is determined by the predetermined pixel pitch, and"print positions are different" means that a centroid of each liquid droplet formed on the corrugated fibreboard recording medium is present in different pixel area that is determined by the predetermined pixel pitch,wherein the method comprises:
determining a dither matrix (M1) having values corresponding to a number of gradations of a magenta ink, then rotating the determined dither matrix (M1) of the magenta ink by 45° to obtain a mask pattern of the magenta ink, then arranging in a square grid the mask pattern of the magenta ink to determine a halftone pattern of the magenta ink, wherein in this halftone pattern the magenta ink is treated not to be ejected onto a position at which there is no signal, then determining a dither matrix (M2) having values corresponding to a number of gradations of other inks with two or more colors other than the magenta ink, then rotating the determined dither matrix (M2) of the other inks with two or more colors other than the magenta ink by 45° to obtain a mask pattern of the inks with two or more colors other than the magenta ink, arranging in a square grid the mask pattern of the rotated dither matrix (M2) of the other inks with two or more colors other than the magenta ink, and then shifting the mask pattern of the rotated dither matrix (M2) of the other inks with two or more colors other than the magenta ink by one pixel respectively by half of the predetermined pitch in the vertical direction and the horizontal direction so as not to overlap the mask pattern of the magenta ink, wherein the resultant pattern is determined as the halftone pattern of the inks with two or more colors other than the magenta ink, wherein each of the inks with two or more colors other than the magenta ink is treated not to be ejected at a position at which there is no signal.
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JP2003051954A (en) * | 2001-05-30 | 2003-02-21 | Ricoh Co Ltd | Halftone screening method, computer program and information storage medium |
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US9302498B2 (en) * | 2009-05-06 | 2016-04-05 | Xerox Corporation | Microstructured image overcoat layer for improved image uniformity applied with blanket overcoater and functional embossing roller |
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EP3296117A4 (en) | 2018-08-15 |
JPWO2016185828A1 (en) | 2018-01-11 |
CN107531057A (en) | 2018-01-02 |
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US10137699B2 (en) | 2018-11-27 |
CN107531057B (en) | 2018-11-09 |
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